Building management system with a distributed blockchain database
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Solution Overview
Problem
Centralized building management systems (BMS) are vulnerable to single-point failures, data corruption, and increased maintenance costs due to reliance on a central server, which can lead to network disruptions and compromised data integrity.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a distributed HVAC data chain using blockchain technology among HVAC devices, allowing them to securely communicate and store information without a central server, where each device stores a copy of the HVAC data chain, and blocks are linked sequentially with digital signatures for authenticity and difficulty requirements to ensure secure data validation and integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a central server is used to handle device identity confirmation, login requests, and data storage, then the system operation is simplified and centralized control is achieved, but the system becomes vulnerable to single-point failures, data corruption, and security breaches that can disrupt the entire network
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the centralized server functionality into distributed nodes across multiple HVAC devices. Each device maintains its own copy of the blockchain ledger and can independently validate transactions, eliminating the single-point failure vulnerability while preserving coordinated control through consensus mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The blockchain acts as an intermediary layer between HVAC devices, providing decentralized identity confirmation, authentication, and data validation. This mediator enables trusted communication and coordination without requiring a central server, thus improving reliability while maintaining ease of operation through standardized protocols.
2Device complexity
If all devices communicate through a central server, then communication protocols are simplified, but communication overhead increases and maintenance costs rise due to the central server's operational dependencies
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges communication functions directly at the device level, allowing HVAC devices to exchange messages and validate transactions peer-to-peer. This eliminates the need for all communications to route through a central server, reducing communication overhead and energy consumption while maintaining protocol simplicity through blockchain standards.
3Ease of operation
If records are stored centrally in the server, then data access is simplified, but data integrity is compromised when the server becomes corrupted or breached
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements copying by distributing identical copies of the blockchain ledger across all HVAC devices in the network. Each device maintains a complete copy of all transaction history and device identity information, ensuring data integrity is preserved even if individual copies become corrupted, while data access remains simple through the standardized blockchain interface.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for securely communicating information in a building management system (BMS) includes a plurality of HVAC devices communicably coupled via a network each HVAC device storing a copy of an HVAC data chain that includes a plurality of blocks linked sequentially. The plurality of HVAC devices includes a first HVAC device including a processing circuit configured to generate a first block comprising device data and send the block to at least a portion of the plurality of HVAC devices. The processing circuit is configured to receive a second block from one of the plurality of HVAC devices and solve the second block. The processing circuit is further configured to add the solved block to the HVAC data chain of the first HVAC device as the newest block and send the solved block to each of the plurality of HVAC devices.